Thousands of tourists were stranded at Bangkok airport in the wake of the closure of Pakistan's airspace due to increasing tensions with India, but Thai Airways had to fly over China and the flight had to resume on Thursday. Thirty or so flights, mostly to or from Europe, which had to transport about 5 000 passengers, were hit, the Thai carrier said.

But the company, after refusing to fly over Iran, will be back on Thursday. These devices are allowed to go over China.

Meanwhile, frustration has grown among the passengers stranded at Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

"We've been waiting eleven or twelve hours here," said Mr. Gerda Heinzel, 55, a German tourist who returned to Munich after a stay in Phuket in the south of the kingdom. "We're not given anything to eat (…) There are no German speaking staff to help us," she complained.

On Wednesday, Islamabad announced the closure of its airspace. Tensions worsened with India

Pakistan shot two Indian military planes over the disputed Kashmir region on Wednesday morning. India says it has fired a Pakistani airplane and lost one of its own aircraft.

Tensions have been lost between New Delhi and Islamabad since a suicide bomb attack in Indian Kashmir killed about 40 paramilitaries. February 14, committed by an Islamic group based in Pakistan